Polarized reed device



Sept. 14, 1948. F. H. GULLIKSEN 2,449,472

POLARIZED REED DEVICE ori inal Filed Sept. 7,- 1939 L1 S 1: B?

90 I Slow 150 Fi i 2g Slow WITNESSES: INVENTOR EEyW Ff/m H. Gullilrsen.I BY ATTORN EY Patented Sept. 14, 1948 POLARIZED REED DEVICE Finn H.Gullilrsen, deceased, late of Oslo, Norway, by Gunvald Gulliksen,administrator, assignor to Westinghouse Electric Corporation, EastPittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania 9 Original applicationSeptember '7, 1939-, Serial No.

293,724. Divided and this application Novemher 9, 1943, Serial No.509,642

Claims. 1

The invention relates broadlyto synchronizing apparatus and is adivision of copending application serial No. 293,724, filed September 7,1939, and entitled Register control system, now U. S. Patent 2,344,656,issued May 23, 1944.

More specifically the invention is directed to a vibrating reed which isnot only synchronized but polarized with respect to an alternatingcurrent source.

An object of the invention is to provide a substantially inertialessvibrating reed which is polarized with respect to .an alternatingcurrent source.

Another object of the invention is to provide a vibrating reed which ispolarized with respect to an alternating current source, by means of oneor more rectifiers and adapting such polarized reed to apparatus whereina synchronizing feature is necessary such as a synchroscope or a powerfactormeter.

Other objects and advantages will become more apparent from a study ofthe following specification when considered in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a schematic showing of a vibrating reed which is notpolarized;

Fig. 2 is a schematic showing of a vibrating reed which is polarized bymeans of a half-wave rectifier;

Fig. 3 is a schematic showing of a vibrating reed which is polarized bymeans of two halfwave rectifiers;

Fig. 4 is a schematic showing of a synchroscope embodying a polarizedreed similar to that shown in Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a schematic showing of a standard synchroscope dial togetherwith a corresponding straight line dial, the latter being useful in thedevice shown in Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a schematic showing of a straight line dial and patterns ofthe traveling beam which indicate either fast or slow, that leading orlagging phase angle between two alternating current sources; and

Fig. 7 is a schematic showing of a power factor meter embodying apolarized reed in accordance with the invention.

It is a well known fact thatmost synchroscopes now on the market have aconsiderable amount of inertia and will, therefore, not follow rapidchanges in beat frequency. This condition is particularly objectionablewhen synchronizing generators are driven by propeller type waterwheelsbecause the speed regulation of this type of equipment is poor,particularly at low heads 2 of water. There have been applications,where, due to rapid variations or reversals of beat frequency, thesynchroscope has temporarily lagged as much as 30 degrees from. thecorrect position, andthis condition is, of course,'objectionable ifmanual synchronizing is used in the station.

If a synchroscope be designed on the mechanical cliiierential principle,i. e., arranginga'mechanical difierential driven by two synchronousmotors connected to the bus and the line respectively, a practicallyinertialess synchroscope can be built. It would, however, be necessaryto provide means so that the synchronous motors always pulled in withthe rotor in the sameposition relative to the stator winding, and notdegrees out of phase.

This necessitates the use of a commutator on the motor shaft, operatingin connection with relays to assure correct phase angle indications.Such a synchroscope would be too bulky and expensive and is, therefore;not practicable.

If, as shown in Fig. 1, a piece of steel l or other magnetic materialhaving one of its ends anchored is placed in an alternating currentmagnetic field produced by magnet 2 energized by a suitable alternatingcurrent sourceof supply L1-L2, the travel T of the free end of the pieceof steel has a definite relation to:the alternating current supplyvoltage wave.

The arrangementtshown in Fig. 1 has the same defect as the synchronousmotor scheme with respect to the pull in position. In order tosynchronize the reed in the correct pull in" position and in accordancewith the invention, an arrangement as shown in Fig. 2 or Fig. 3 is used.By connecting a half-wave rectifier 9 such as a Rectox in series withthe magnet coil 2 (see Fig. 2), the reed is attracted towards the magnetonly when the voltage of L1 is positive in relation to L2. In Fig. 3 isshown an arrange ment comprising two magnets 4 and B-energized throughRectox rectifiers 6 and 1, respectively, during the positive and thenegative half cycle of alternating current voltage respectively.

Experiments showed that preferably the reed should be designed so thatits critical frequency stresses within permissible limits.

Using the olarized reed principle, a novel type of synchroscope as shownin Fig. 4 may be deyised. The .synchroscope consists of a reed B whichis anchored at 9. The reed is equipped with a thin plate I which has asmall hole II therein. The magnets 12 and I3 are energized from the linethrough Rectox rectifiers i4 and I5, respectively. As previouslydescribed, the reed 8 will vibrate in synchronism with the line voltageL1 and L2, and the hole in plate In will always be in a definitelocation dependent upon the phase angle of the line voltage L1-L2 withrespect to the bus voltage across busses B1 and B2.

A glow tube I6, preferably a Strobotron tube or tube with similarcharacteristics, is placed behind plate it so that the glow from thetube can be seen through the hole II. The anode voltage for tube I6 issupplied by Rectox rectifiers I! and I8 whose output voltages aresmoothed out by means of condensers l9 and 20, respectively. Rectoxrectifier I7 is supplied with alternating current beat voltage that is,the resulatant of the voltage producing the alternating currents in thelines L1 and L2 and the busses B1 and B2 and is connected in bright lampcircuit, and rectifier l8 whose output voltage is opposing the voltagefrom rectifier H is connected to transformer 2| which is connected tothe bus voltage Bi-Bz. An impulse transformer 22 is also connectedacross the bus voltage and the secondary winding of the impulsetransformer is connected to the grid 23 and the cathode 24 of the tubeI6.

The purpose of tube It is to supply a luminous discharge of highintensity and short duration during each cycle. This discharge willoccur at a definite phase angle location (referring to the voltageacross buses B1B2) once during each cycle of bus voltage, and isinitiated by the grid control action of impulse transformer 22.

When the line voltage is in phase with the bus voltage the tubedischarge occurs when the reed, and consequently the hole i i is in thecenter position as shown in Fig. 4, and an illuminated spot willtherefore appear on a translucent glass dial 25 placed in front of plateiii. If the line voltage is out Of phase with the bus voltage theilluminated spot appears either on the left side or on the right side ofthe center position, depending upon whether the bus voltage is leadingor lagging the line voltage.

In order to explain the operation of the device reference is made toFig. which shows a standard synchroscope dial and the correspondingstraight line dial as used in Fig. 4. Assuming that the phase angle iszero and then changes in the fast direction to 90180270 and back tozero, the light spot would move as shown in the lower part of Fig, 5,and it will be seen that the light spot appears in the center locationif the phase angle is zero as well as 180. To make the synchroscopeindicate only the zero position, and to also indicate whether themachine is fast or slow the tube It is prevented from glowing when thephase angle changes from 90 to 180 to 90. This feature is obtained byopposing the anode beat voltage obtained from the rectifier I! by thevoltage from rectifier 18 so that if the phase angle difference betweenline and bus exceeds 90 the total anode potential of tube I6 will be toolow to cause breakdown of the tube regardless 'of the magnitude of thegrid voltage obtained from impulse transformer 22.

This arrangement results in the dial patterns shown in Fig. 6. When themachine is fast the light spot appears only when moving from left toright. When the machine is slow the visible light spot movement is onlyfrom right 119 left.

The polarized reed such as shown in Fig. 2 is also applicable to a powerfactor meter, such as shown in Fig. '7. In many industrial applicationsrapid variations of power factor occur, and no instrument is availableto indicate these rapid variations because of the mechanical inertia ofthe moving mechanism of the instrument. For this reason it is oftennecessary to make expensive oscillograph tests to determine thevariations in power factor, where an ordinary instrument would have beenentirely satisfactory provided the instrument did not have anymechanical lag.

Fig, 7 shows a power factor meter whichil) will ive instantaneousindication of power factor, (2) which is simple to operate and read, (3)which can be built into a standard instrument case, and (4) which willnot be more expensive than the standard power factor meters now on themarket.

Referring to Fig. '7, the load 3! whose power factor is to be measuredis connected across an alternating current source L1L2. A vibrating reed32 with characteristics as described above is equipped with a thin plate33 in which is a small hole. Polarized synchronous operation of the reedis obtained by means of magnet 34 and Rectox rectifier 35. Glowdischarge tube 36, which preferably is a cold cathode tube, for examplea, Strobotron; is supplied with direct current anode potential by meansof Rectox rectifier 3'! connected to voltage L1-L2. A condenser 38 isconnected across the Rectox rectifier to give a discharge current ofhigh magnitude and short duration through tube 35. The grid circuit oftube 36 is controlled by means of an impulse transformer 39 excited fromthe load current. This impulse transformer produces a peaked voltagewhich has a definite phase relation to the load current wave. For thisreason, the tube illuminates the hole when the load current has adefinite phase angle, and through the stroboscopic action of thevibrating reed, the phase angle can be read directly as outlined indetailabove in the description of the synchro-' scope.

Because of the polarizing action of Rectox rectifier 35 the hole, whenilluminated, will be located on the left hand side if the power factoris leading, and will be on the right hand side if the power factor islagging.

This invention is not limited to any of' the particular devices orstructures, or details of construction, as illustrated, nor to anyspecific arrangement that is shown since they may be modified andrearranged without departing from the spirit and scope of the inventionas set forth in the appended claims.

What is claimed is: a i

1. In a polarized electrical instrument for indicating the relationshipof electrical characteristics of a pair of alternating current circuits,the combination of, a strip-like member of magnetic material having afiXed end and a free end which is adapted for vibration, electromagneticmeans for effecting vibration of said strip-like member uponenergization thereof means for supplying alternating current to saidelectromagnetic means from one of said alternating current circuitswhereby the strip-like member vibrates at a frequency corresponding tothat of the energizing alternating current, rectifier means forpolarizing the electromagnetic means with respect to the energizingalternating current, a grid controlled glow discharge lamp having ananode, a cathode and a grid, means for energizing the anode, anelectrical impulse transformer having primary and secondary windings,means for supplying alternating current to said primary winding from theother of said pair of electrical circuits, circuit means connecting saidsecondary winding to said grid for controlling said lampior periodicillumination, and an apertured member secured to the vibrating end ofsaid strip-like member and located adjacent said lamp.

2. In a polarized electrical instrument for indicating the relationshipof electrical characteristics of a pair of alternating current circuits,the combination of, a reed of magnetizable material, electromagneticmeans adjacent said reed, means for supplying alternating current fromone of said alternating current circuits to said electromagnetic meansfor effecting vibration of said reed at a frequency corresponding tothat of said one alternating current circuit, rectifier means forpolarizing said electromagnetic means with respect to the alternatingcurrent of said one circuit, a grid controlled glow discharge lamphaving an anode, a cathode, and a grid, means for supplying electricalenergy to said anode, electrical impulse producing means connected withsaid grid and cathode, means for energizing said electrical impulseproducing means with alternating current from the other of said pair ofalternating current electrical circuits, for periodically effectingillumination of the lamp, and an apertured member rigidly secured to thereed to vibrate therewith, said apertured member being disposed adjacentsaid lamp.

3. Polarized synchronizing apparatus c0mprising, in combination, a reed,an alternating cur rent source, a pair of electromagnets disposed onopposite sides of said reed and connected in parallel with said source,a pair of oppositely directed half-wave rectifiers, each of which isconnected in one of said parallel circuits in series with each of saidelectromagnets thereby causing said reed to vibrate with the samefrequency as said alternating current source, a second alternatingcurrent source the frequency of which is adapted to be varied, a lampand impulse means which are energized by said second source so as tomake said lamp luminous only during a small fractional portion of eachcycle, an aperture-d member secured to said reed and located adjacentsaid lamp, the position of said apertured member relative to said lampat the time of illumination of said lamp being a visual indication ofthe direction and extent of the phase angle between the voltages of saidfirst source and said second source.

4. A synchroscope comprising, in combination, a reed, an alternatingcurrent source, a pair of electromagnets disposed on opposite sides ofsaid reed and connected in parallel with said source, a pair ofoppositely directed half-wave rectifiers, each of which is connected inone of said parallel circuits in series with each of said electromagnetsthereby causing said reed to vibrate with the same frequency as saidalternating current source, a second alternating current source, thefrequency of which is adapted to be varied, an impulse transformerhaving a primary and a secondary, the primary being connected acrosssaid second alternating current source, a grid controlled glow lampwhich is controlled by the voltage across the second of said impulsetransformer and which is effective to be luminous only durign a smallfractional portion of each cycle, an apertured member secured to saidreed and located adjacent said lamp, the position. of said aperturedmember relative to said lamp at the time of illumination of said lampbeing a visual indication of the direction and extent of the phase anglebetween the voltages of said first source and said second source.

5. A synchroscope comprising, in combination, a reed, an alternatingcurrent source, a pair of electromagnets disposed on opposite sides ofsaid reed and connected in parallel with said source, a pair ofoppositely directed half-wave rectifiers, each of which is connected inone of said parallel circuits in series with each of said electromagnetsthereby causing said reed to vibrate with the same frequency as saidalternating current source, a second alternating current source, thefrequency of which is adapted to be varied, an impulse transformerhaving a primary and a secondary, the primary being connected acrosssaid second alternating current source, a grid controlled glow lampwhich is controlled by the voltage across the second of said impulsetransformer and which is eifective to be luminous only during a smallfractional portion of each cycle, an apertured member secured to saidreed and located adjacent said lamp, the position of said aperturedmember relative to said lamp at the time of illumination of said lampbeing a visual indication of the direction and extent of the phase anglebetween the voltages of said first source and said second source, meansfor suppressing illumination of the lamp While said phase angle changesfrom to to 90 degrees thereby securing a movement of the luminous spotas viewed through the aperture in either one direction or an oppositedirection which denotes that the phase angle is either too fast or tooslow.

GUNVALD GULLIKSEN,

Administrator of the Estate of Finn H. Gullilcsen,

Deceased.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

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